BOOK REVIEW: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan has been in possession of her meticulously crafted answer since she understood the question. On the day that she nails the most important job interview of her career and gets engaged to the perfect man, she's well on her way to fulfilling her life goals.

That night Dannie falls asleep only to wake up in a different apartment with a different ring on her finger, and in the company of a very different man. The TV is on in the background, and she can just make out the date. It's the same night - December 15th - but 2025, five years in the future.

It was just a dream, she tells herself when she wakes, but it felt so real... Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four and a half years later, when Dannie turns down a street and there, standing on the corner, is the man from her dream…

Publisher: Quercus

A lot of people are talking about this book and now I’ve read it, I can completely understand why. It is so well done, Serle captivates her readers from the very beginning and I flew through the pages. 

Dannie Kohan has planned her entire life- the career she wants in corporate law, the apartment in the right part of New York, the boyfriend whose plans fit with hers. She has a big day, a successful job interview and a romantic proposal from David, life, in her eyes is perfect. But she goes to sleep and then wakes up in a different apartment with a different fiance and the calendar says it is 2025, five years from now. On waking the next morning, she writes the experience off as a bad dream and books an appointment with her therapist. Yet just over four years later she sees the man from her dream and he is very real. Dannie is so confused, this man is not part of her life plan and she becomes even more committed to following the future she has in her head but life has other ideas. 

This is very much a love story but not in the way that I expected. Serle looks at different forms of love, family, marriage, friendship and even the love you have for your work. My favourite part of the book was Dannie’s relationship with her best friend Bella and this really drives the second half of the book. Dannie and Bella are complete opposites but they love each other deeply. Bella has to teach Dannie that true love is not necessarily about long term plans but instead the here and now and how we behave towards others in the moment. Dannie has become so fixated on what she should do that she has lost the ability to see that it might not be the right course of action. Bella wants her friend to be happy more than anything and she does everything in her power to show Dannie how to live life a little more and to not give your love to someone half-heartedly.

In Five Years left me with a lovely feeling, I felt like it was a gentle reminder to appreciate what you have whilst not settling for less than you deserve. I loved the exploration of friendship and how deep and significant a true friendship can be. Serle writes about loss in such a beautiful way, the language she uses is honest and poignant. 

This book is going to delight so many readers, I’m already looking forward to re-reading Rebecca Serle’s fabulous story.

Many thanks to Quercus for gifting me a review copy.

BOOK REVIEW: The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 391

I loved this book! I’m so glad that I finally gave in and bought a copy as it is a fantastic read! 

Tiffy and Leon share a bed in Leon’s London flat; he works nights as a nurse in a hospice and Tiffy has a 9-5 job as a book editor. They have never actually met but they communicate by leaving post-it notes in the flat plus various offerings of food for each other. Their unconventional relationship grows until they have to meet face to face, will their first encounter meet the expectations they have of each other or will it be a huge disappointment?

You cannot help but fall in love with these characters. I felt as though I knew Tiffy and Leon by inside out by the end of the book and I was sad to say goodbye when I reached the final chapter. They are so well matched and bring out the best in each other even when their only contact is handwritten notes.

Beth O’Leary gets the balance just right within the story, it reminded me of Marian Keyes’ fabulous books. There is a great deal of humour and wit beautifully balanced with hard-hitting issues and emotions. I’ll be honest, I had not expected such serious sub-plots and these really raise the book up. Beth O’Leary deals with difficult topics with sincerity, weaving them within her plot effortlessly.

I really enjoyed how each chapter was told from either Leon or Tiffy’s perspective, it keeps your interest and you get to know each character really well in this way. 

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary is a wonderful debut and I know she has another book due out next year which I can’t wait to get my hands on! 

BOOK REVIEW: Clean by Juno Dawson

'I can feel it swimming through my veins like glitter... it's liquid gold.'
When socialite Lexi Volkov almost overdoses, she thinks she's hit rock bottom.
She's wrong. Rock bottom is when she's forced into an exclusive rehab facility. From there, the only way is up for Lexi and her fellow inmates, including the mysterious Brady.
As she faces her demons, Lexi realises love is the most powerful drug of all...
It's a dirty business getting clean.

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 399

I had no idea that Clean by Juno Dawson is a YA book. I had seen several people raving about it so ordered a copy to take on holiday and I can report that it is fantastic.
It deals with addiction in its many forms- drugs, alcohol, sex, food, exercise and so on.
Lexi Volkov is our protagonist, she is only 17 and heiress to a Russian hotel dynasty. She has been living in a gilded cage until her older brother picks her up from rock bottom and deposits her in an exclusive rehab facility on a remote island. Lexi initially fights against everything mentally and physically but gradually she has to face up to the stark truth that she is a drug addict and if she doesn't beat it then it will eventually kill her.
We follow Lexi on her rehab path and learn about the others receiving treatment alongside her. Mainly young and privileged, they are proof that money doesn't buy happiness.
Lexi is drawn to Brady, an American patient, is there anything real there or are they both running from their problems?
Clean by Juno Dawson is a fantastic book. As a parent it is utterly terrifying to read but so important. We can't ignore the temptations that will increasingly become part of our children's lives as they get older. I would rather know what's out there than bury my head in the sand.
Lexi is a likeable character, she is incredibly vulnerable  and naive despite the privileged and adult environment she inhabits. I loved watching her go through the many stages of rehabilitation, it's not all plain sailing and I thought that Juno Dawson presented it clearly and honestly.
Clean is a book I can highly recommend, it is well written and informative. It opened up my eyes and gave me such a lot to consider. 

BLOG TOUR: The Girl Before by JP Delaney

I'm so excited to be on the blog tour for The Girl Before, it is one of the best books I have read so far this year and I think you are going to love it! 

Enter the world of One Folgate Street and discover perfection... but can you pay the price?
Jane stumbles on the rental opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to live in an ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect, on condition she abides by a list of exacting rules. But when she discovers the previous tenant, Emma, met a mysterious death there, Jane starts to wonder if her own story will be a re-run of the girl before. 

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 407

This book is highly charged from the very first page, I think it is the thriller everyone will be talking about in 2018! I read this in one day so be warned that it is impossible to put down.
The book revolves around One Folgate Street, a house designed and let by renowned architect Edward Monkton. Whoever rents it has to sign up to a lengthy and particular set of rules in order to rent the house they are effectively agreeing to change the way they live but the house is extraordinary.
The book flits between two central female characters; Jane who is the latest tenant  and Emma who rented the property with her boyfriend Simon. Both women move into the house after suffering a traumatic event and both see it as a fresh start yet they both begin to wander and ask questions about the girl before. Edward Monkton links the two women- who is he really and why did he choose them to live in his house?
I really do think this book is going to be huge, it is being published in 35 countries and the film rights have already been bought by Ron Howard.
The story is captivating and addictive, I felt that everything was spot on- the characters, the plot. the pace, the suspense- it was like a masterclass in thriller writing.
Edward Monkton is the central mystery, he has a little bit of Christian Grey about him and it is easy to see why both women are drawn to him. He gives absolutely nothing away, he was still a mystery by the last page, if anything I had more questions about Edward Monkton than I started with.

The Girl Before is fantastic and I urge you to read it, JP Delaney has written a dark, clever and addictive book that everyone will be talking about.

Many thanks to Quercus for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

BOOK TOUR: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Joanna Bolouri

I really struggled with festive reading last year but I am on a roll this year and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Joanna Bolouri has been one of my favourites so far! 

Thirty-eight year old Emily has a satisfying job, fab friends, and most importantly, a wonderful flat, exactly 411 miles away from the crazy interfering family she reluctantly sees twice a year. In fact, the only stress in her life is her twenty-something neighbour Evan and his penchant for flirting, loud music and even louder sex...but he's nothing she can't handle.
Emily also has a boyfriend called Robert and it's going really well. So well, in fact, that this year Emily wants to take him home for Christmas. Finally she won't be subject to endless pitying looks from her parents and younger married siblings. But when she and Robert break up a week before Christmas, Emily is gutted. How on earth is she going to face her family now? Enlisting the help of party-boy Evan, Emily is determined to take Robert home for Christmas come hell or high water, even if it isn't the real Robert...

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 416

I really did love this book! I liked Emily from the very beginning and her family was simply brilliant. Emily had been looking forward to taking her boyfriend home for Christmas but they unexpectedly break up the week before. Emily does not want to lose face so she ends up asking  Evan, her next door neighbour to come with her and pretend to be Robert. One of the many problems is that Emily can't stand Evan. He has kept her awake many nights, entertaining a constant stream of women in his bedroom which happens to be on the other side of Emily's bedroom wall. But she can't go home on her own so Evan is her only choice.
They set off to Scotland, luckily it's a long car journey from London as Emily needs to make sure Evan has all the information he needs to pretend to be Robert plus they need to appear that they have been together for over 8 months.
So ensues four days of Emily and Evan pretending to be madly in love in front of her parents. However, their feelings start to develop when they are behind closed doors. Emily is so confused as to what is happening. She can't stand Evan so why does he give her butterflies  and now her family think he's Robert, she really has dug herself a hole.
Joanna Bolouri has written an excellent book, I totally fell for Evan (think Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love) and the chemistry between him and Emily is perfect. The author provided me with so many laugh out loud moments; Emily's family were hilarious but still entirely believable.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year has the perfect balance of romance and humour. It's lovely that the book is set at Christmas but for me it was all about Evan and Emily- they are now on my list of top fictional couples. I highly recommend this book, I may give it another read before Father Christmas comes!

Many thanks to Alainna at Quercus for inviting me to be part of this lovely book tour! 

BLOG TOUR: While My Eyes Were Closed by Linda Green

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour today for Linda Green's latest book, While My Eyes Were Wide Shut. If you are after a gripping read that may freak you out a little bit then look no further:

 Lisa Dale shuts her eyes and counts to one hundred during a game of hide and seek. When she opens them, her four-year-old daughter Ella is gone. Disappeared without a trace. The police, the media and Lisa's family all think they know who snatched Ella. But what if the person who took her isn't a stranger? What if they are convinced they are doing the right thing? And what if Lisa's little girl is in danger of disappearing forever?

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 416

This book was excellent but seriously creepy! As a mother of a four-year-old, there were times when this book made me feel sick as the idea of losing my own child was at the forefront of my mind. Lisa Dale is a busy mum, like many, trying to juggle different responsibilities; she closes her eyes when playing hide and seek with her four-year-old daughter in the park, when she opens them Ella is gone. Not hiding but gone. The police descend and a man hunt begins. Lisa and her husband Alex are sure that Ella has been taken as she would not be one to wander off. But who has taken her? She didn't scream as Lisa would have heard her; she who has taken her daughter and turned her world upside down?
While My Eyes Were Closed is more than a missing child story. I
felt like it was a real psychological drama. It's difficult not to give too much away but the character who has taken Ella is very complex. You begin to realise that they think they are in the right by taking the little girl which just adds to the tension as you have no idea just how far they will go.
While My Eyes Were Closed is a gripping read, I flew through it in just over a day, it is an impressive  book which I highly recommend.

Many thanks to Quercus for inviting me to be part of this blog tour, don't forget to check out the other stops.

BOOK REVIEW: The Playground by Julia Kelly

Eve is putting her life together again.
Her partner has walked out on her.
She's moved into a tiny flat on the outskirts of Dublin.
She has no job.
But she does have her beloved baby daughter and there's a little playground across the street. It's a tired spot for teenagers and tramps, but Eve is determined to make this new life work. Alongside her interfering lodger and a group of local mums she swings into action to make the playground the heart of the community.
But not all games are innocent- and not all friends are true. When a terrible accident is blamed on her, Eve must forge her own independence- and realise that the playground is not a place to hide from adulthood. 

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 272

The Playground is the first book that I have read by Julia Kelly  but I very much enjoyed it.
Her writing style is quite disjointed but this just adds to the overall feel of the book. She does't necessarily want you to curl up and have a cosy time; she almost sets out to challenge you as a reader.
Eve's life is in turmoil, her partner Joe has walked out on her and their three year old daughter Addie. Her self-esteem is at an all time low and due to money worries they have had to leave their family home and move to a small flat in Bray. Eve just wants to make everything right for Addie who she loves more than life. So when an opportunity arises to improve the playground across the road, she jumps right in, not knowing what the consequences will be.
I can't really compare this book to any others I have read; I found Julia Kelly's narration original and absorbing. Eve is a fantastic character; there are times when we get almost a stream of conciousness from her which was very enlightening but almost made her seem even more vulnerable as I felt that I knew so much about her.
The Playground is a very enticing story that quickly draws you in. Julia Kelly is highly descriptive in her writing so it is easy to become absorbed in the world that she has created; I would highly recommend this book.

Many thanks to Quercus for sending me a review copy, The Playground is out now! 

BLOG TOUR: The List by Joanna Bolouri

I am pleased to be part of the blog tour for The List by Joanna Bolouri, the lovely Emma has organised this tour in conjunction with Quercus, you can check out her blog here. This List is a really fun read, definitely worth checking out:

Phoebe Henderson may be single but she sure doesn't feel fabulous. It's been a year since she found her boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman, and multiple cases of wine and extensive relationship analysis with her best friend Lucy have done nothing to help. Faced with a new year but no new love, Phoebe concocts a  different kind of resolution.
The List: ten things she's always wanted to do in bed but has never had the chance (or the courage!) to try. A bucket list for between the sheets. One year of pleasure, no strings attached.
Simple right?
Factor in meddlesome colleagues, friends with benefits, getting frisky al fresco and maybe possibly, true love and Phoebe's got her work cut out for her. 

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 400

The List by Joanna Bolouri is a lot of fun and a book that I would highly recommend. I felt as though I worked out quite early on what was going to happen but in some ways I enjoyed the book more because of this as I could just sit back and enjoy what was happening.
Phoebe Henderson has been single for over a year after walking in on her boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman. It is the new year and Phoebe has decided that she needs to do something drastic, so she enlists her friend Lucy to help her compile The List. The list is made up of ten sexual acts that she has always wanted to do. However, she can't do these things on her own (well not all of them) so she ropes in her best friend Oliver to help her complete her mission. Will the list change Phoebe's love life and will her friendship wit
h Oliver survive this year of unadulterated pleasure?
I liked Phoebe a lot; she 's a similar age to me and works in advertising sales for a newspaper, the exact job I did seven years ago. She was funny, likeable and a bit feisty at times, I think a lot of readers will identify with her. Oliver is a fantastic creation, I had a crush on him as soon as he appeared in the book and this just grew as the story developed.
Joanna Bolouri's writing style is witty and face paced; the book is quite long at 400 pages but I didn't get bored at any point.
If you are on the look-out for a fast paced fun read then I urge you to buy a copy of The List, you might even learn a thing or two!

Many thanks to Emma for organising a fabulous blog tour and to Quercus for sending me a review copy. Check out the top of my blog to see who's next on the blog tour!

Guest Review: The Low Road by Chris Womersley

I have another guest review for you, the lovely Jenny Haddon has reviewed The Low Road by Chris Womersley. Jenny is an author herself so take a look at her website here.

A man wakes up in an unfamiliar motel room. He is afraid, in pain, bleeding. He remembers his night terrors as a child and a teenage sense of ‘the night barrelling through space.’ He does not know how long he has been there. A woman comes in and mutters at him. Lee knows ‘everything was ruined.’ The woman persuades Wild, a doctor who has been struck off, to take charge of Lee. They set out for Wild’s old mentor, so that he may remove the bullet. They take Lee’s suitcase containing a stolen $8,000. Elsewhere, Josef, an ageing low life, has to get that money back or, his (criminal) boss tells him, he is finished, even though they both acknowledge that it is not very much money. It is the principle of the thing. So Josef pursues Lee and the doctor. The rest of the story is their journey and the pursuit.                                              

The publishers describe this as ‘a modern noir thriller’. I expected a neat plot, some fast action, a cool eye for the weaknesses of bad guys. Maybe also a sort of Philip Marlow Code, fastidiousness rather morality, as a man who is not himself mean walks the mean streets, alert, aware and vulnerable. This is not that sort of noir.                                                                   

Here we’re running with the bad guys from the start. Not that they see themselves as bad guys, just the victims of accident and bad choices. ‘Like all people in free fall, Wild had been the last person to realise.’ They are not dislikeable – there is a fascinating absence of malice in all of them and they don’t pity themselves or blame other people much either. (A touch unrealistic, I thought that, to be honest.) Lee and Wild lurch from crisis to crisis with blank acceptance. These are people you do not ask why they do what they do – you ask them (or they ask themselves) how they got there.  Memory and flashback tell that story and which is where the really shocking stuff is to be found.                                                                

The chapters are told from the point of view of each main character in turn. Often they move at the pace of reverie, minutely observed: Lee is losing blood throughout the real time of the story; the doctor, Wade, gets high; it shows. And the unimaginably awful slips through almost unnoticed, along with the smell of apples and the sound of laughter. ‘People will always be as cruel as they are allowed to be,’ says a prison inmate, in passing. And it is only later that you realise the truth of it.

Do I recommend this book?  Um. If you’re a fan of alienation lit, it is probably outstanding. As for me, in spite of its qualities and some enviable writing in places, I just didn’t care about any of the people. Oh, a horse did rouse my sympathy, briefly. My rewards for reading this book did not include emotional engagement or justice served. But it has one great virtue. A gambling boss says at one point, ‘The way people like us survive is that nobody really believes we exist.’ Well, after reading this book, I do. 

Jenny's Rating: 4/5

Pages: 288

Publisher: Quercus

Many thanks to Jenny for taking the time to review this book and to Quercus for sending a copy, The Low Road is out now. 

Book Review: Bereft by Chris Womersley

Australia, 1919. Quinn Walker returns from The Great War to the New South Wales town of Flint: the birthplace he fled ten years earlier when he was accused  of a heinous act.
Aware of the townsmen's vow to hang him, Quinn takes to the surrounding hills. Here, deciding upon his plan of action, and questioning just what he has returned for, he meets Sadie Fox.
This mysterious girl seems to know and share his darkest fear. And, as their bond greatens, Quinn learns what he must do to lay the ghosts of his past, and Sadie's present to rest.

I wasn't too sure about this book when it arrived but I'm extremely glad that I read it. It's part crime, part literary fiction and Chris Womersley's writing is brilliant.
Quinn Walker returns to the small town of Flint haunted by his experiences of The Great War. He fled the town 10 years ago when he was found cradling the body of his beloved sister Sarah who had been raped and murdered. Quinn knows that if anyone recognises his face then they will waste no time in hanging him but he knows that he must return. Whilst hiding above the village, he meets Sadie Fox, she is a curious girl; her parents are both dead but she is sure that her brother will return from the war to claim her. A bond between the two is quickly formed, especially when they are being hunted by the same person. They need each other in order to confront their pasts so that they have any chance of a future.
Quinn Walker is a particularly interesting character. I just wanted him to find some kind of peace; it seems as though he is continually haunted by his dead sister and his time in the war. Sadie is equally as interesting, she has a magical quality about her. There are several instances in the book where you are left to wonder whether she is real or not.
The pace of this book is good overall but I think I gave this book 4/5 due to a few parts feeling a little slow. Bereft is an excellent read though and I shall look out for Chris Womersley's other books.

Dot Scribbles Rating 4/5

Many thanks to Quercus for sending me a copy of the book to review, Bereft is out now!

Book Review: The Goldsmith's Secret by Elia Barcelo

One snowy night in New York City, a successful, solitary goldsmith reflects on his life, and his unreliable memories intertwine and collide. Journeying to the village in Spain where he grew up, he hopes with some trepidation that he will encounter Celia, "the Black Widow", a beautiful and mysterious friend of his mother with whom he had a short and passionate affair when he was a teenager. But instead he meets a young women who opens doors into an unimagined world, and takes him back in time. The Goldsmith's Secret is a remarkable story of a love trapped between two parallel times, set in Spain in the 1950's, 1970'2 and in the last year of the twentieth century.

The Goldsmith's Secret is a novella at just 93 pages and it took me just under an hour to read it. We see everything through the goldsmith's eyes, he looks back on his relationship with Celia which was passionate and intense. He returns to Villasanta, the spanish village where he met Celia, here things get a little confusing and I'm not entirely sure if they are intended to be. The goldsmith meets a young girl also called Celia and it seems that she takes him back in time. I still enjoyed these parts of the book but it was very difficult to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
However, I must say that Elia Barcelo's writing is simply beautiful. Although it has been translated, none of its descriptive power has been lost. Barcelo masterfully chooses words to effortlessly provide the reader with a clear image of the scene in their head. Although I didn't fully understand the story, I still really enjoyed reading The Goldsmith's Secret as the writing was very special.

Many thanks to Quercus for sending me the book to review, it is out now.